Rocco Baldelli fires back at Jhoan Duran for calling out Twins coaches

That pain in your neck isn't from bad posture or lifting something wrong, rather it's likely a direct cause of the whiplash the Minnesota Twins have given fans over the course of the last few weeks.

Minnesota emerged from a 7-13 start to the season to go on a 12-game winning streak that saw the team win 17 of its next 20 games before once again running into trouble. The Twins are chasing the winning streak by threatening to match it with an equally bad slump, as the team dropped its seventh straight game on Monday night.

Nothing seems to be going right, from embarassingly bad offense to defensive mistakes that are proving costly. Pablo Lopez allowed seven runs in a 12-3 loss to the Nationals, and while he gave up a two-run homer he was the victim of balls in play being poorly played.

The collective result is the Twins looking less like a team on the rise and more like the sluggish one we all saw out of the gate. It's a losing streak that is not only wearing fans thin but is having an adverse effect in the clubhouse.

Jhoan Duran called out Twins pitching coach Pete Maki after allowing a walk-off home run in Sunday's loss to Cleveland. It was something that didn't sit right with manager Rocco Baldelli who addressed the comments on Monday.

Rocco Baldelli addresses Jhoan Duran's comments calling out Twins coaches

Duran seemingly blamed Maki for changing up his pitch mix during a mound visit right before allowing a walk-off to Will Brennan. It wasn't just that Duran called his coach out, it's the way he did it as he claimed to merely be doing what he's told as an employee of the team.

Baldelli fired back at those comments, noting that Duran should have probably said something during the mound visit rather than trying to bury his coach after the loss.

"When that subject is brought up on the mound, you can say it before the pitch is thrown and not after the pitch is thrown. I think that would've been more productive," Baldelli said before Monday's game.

Duran wasn't left out to dry the way he did with Maki, as Baldelli said that the furstration is a result of the losing skid the team is on. He did, however, remind his closer where in the pecking order he is while defending his pitching coach's approach.

"We do a good job of game-planning," Baldelli said. "We know — no matter how you cut it up — what guys are good at, what guys are less likely to be able to do at the plate. We know these things pretty well. I trust Pete, I trust our staff and I trust our catchers as well to know these hitters really, really good."

It's an overally ugly situation that is a byproduct of truly ugly baseball that the Twins are playing right now. It's not just Duran who has been rough; Christian Vazquez had a brutal throwing error in Monday's loss and Twins hitters have once again been placed on the side of a milk carton as they get outscored 45-12 over the seven game losing streak.

Duran was out of line with his comments, which are best kept in-house, and it's something to keep an eye on as the Twins try to manage the damage being done both on and off the field.

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